SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
Road games at UCLA and Hawaii, and a neutral court game against the University of Kansas highlight the 2003-04 UC Santa Barbara basketball schedule.

In addition to the usual 18-game Big West Conference schedule, the Gauchos will play ten non-conference games in 2003-04, seven of which will be away from home. UCSB, the defending Big West regular season champion and a participant in the 2003 National Invitation Tournament, will open the campaign with a November 21 road game at Hawaii. In fact, the first four games of the 2003-04 season will be away from home. Following the game at Hawaii, the Gauchos will travel to St. Mary's for a November 26, night-before-Thanksgiving contest at St. Mary's. On Thanksgiving Day, the team will travel from the Bay Area to Missoula, Montana, to take part in the Montana Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament. On November 29, the Gauchos will open with the host school, Montana. The tournament also includes St. Mary's and Southeast Missouri State.

Senior forward Bray Skultety sat out the 2002-03 season with a knee injury. He was awarded a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and should be an important factor for the 2003-04 Gauchos.

After the trip to Montana, UCSB will return home for three consecutive home games, the only three home games of the non-conference schedule. On December 3, the Gauchos will renew their lengthy rivalry with coastal foe Pepperdine. On December 10, crosstown opponent Westmont will come to the Thunderdome, and on December 13, the University of San Diego, the defending West Coast Conference Tournament champions, will come to town.

On the heels of the three consecutive home games, Santa Barbara will take to the road for the final three games of the preseason slate. On December 17, UCSB will travel to Westwood to take-on traditional power UCLA. The Gauchos complete their non-conference schedule on December 20 and 21, when they take part in Nevada's Wolf Pack Classic. UCSB will open the tournament on December 20 against 2003 NCAA runner-up, Kansas. The University of Nevada and Alabama State are also playing in the tournament.

Following a 12-day layoff, UCSB will open Big West Conference play with a January 3 game at Long Beach State and a January 5 game at UC Irvine. Including the first two games of league play, the Gauchos will open the 2003-04 season with nine of 12 games away from home.